Sales Funnel Marketing And Your Business Development
Sales Funnel Marketing And Your Business Development: What It Means
If you’re involved in any form of marketing, then you are probably familiar with what is known as the buyer funnel.
The buyer funnel consists of all the steps of the purchasing cycle, which indicates the potential customer’s process of making a purchase. Ultimately, for marketers, it assists in the understanding of how consumers think, and it informs strategic decisions so that sales conversions can be maximized. At its core, there are three stages to the buyer funnel: top, middle, and bottom. As a general rule, the top of problem awareness, the middle is defined as solution consideration, and then the bottom is product decision.
The one thing that most marketers do not realize, though, is that the nature of the buyer funnel is changing. At one time, there was a clear distinction between marketing and sales team. Marketing would place their focus on building awareness and generating leads. Then, when the prospect was eager to learn more, the sales team would jump in to finalize the deal. Today, however, this distinction is distorted. The consumer goes through the sales process individually due to the internet. Research shows that two-thirds of the buyer’s journey is completed online instead of over the phone or in-person.
Due to changes in purchasing habits on behalf of the consumers, many marketers have failed to take the impact of the buyer funnel into serious consideration. Their marketing strategy has not been adapted to fit with these shifts in behavior, and as a result, their marketing is suffering.
What Is Sales Funnel Marketing?
Sales funnel marketing is when businesses focus on marketing strategy creation that targets consumers at each individual stage of the buyer funnel. Since customers require a different approach at each stage of the funnel, it is crucial that marketers adjust their strategies accordingly. Take the time to think about your creative design, messaging, and everything in between. Taking a strategic approach to this will carry over into your marketing tactics that you use for your campaign. Remember that each tactic has a special objective and goal.
For instance, here is a look at how your tactics may differ for each of the various stages of the buyer funnel:
- Top/Awareness – Tactics like pre-roll video advertisements, online display, and content marketing are ideal for producing awareness and shifting brands to a front-of-the-mind status.
- Middle/Consideration – Tactics like e-mail marketing, social advertising, and paid search all help to reinforce the brand while helping to ensure brand discoverability and visibility when prospective customers search for a brand’s particular services or products.
- Bottom/Conversion – Tactics like discount offers and retargeting help with the reinforcement of the decision and encourage the consumer to take action.
How Does Sales Funnel Marketing Work?
Due to the fact that the bulk majority of the buyer’s journey occurs online now, prospective customers need to see the brand anywhere that they interact. This may include search engines, social media platforms, online communities, related websites, news sites, etc. Otherwise, the brand is virtually invisible. Keep in mind that there are likely thousands of other individuals looking for companies similar to yours, but if they are unable to locate you, they are definitely finding your competition. The first step in the full funnel marketing process is to make certain that prospects are able to locate you and then convince them to visit your website.
Generate the Interest of Prospects
Once you have your prospect on your site, your next step is to get them to stick around on your site. Studies have shown that three-fourths of consumers will make judgments on the credibility of a company based on their website. Because of this, it is important that your website is designed well enough to create a lasting impression. In today’s day and age, a website needs to be created to connect brand-new visitors with its passions, values, stories, and ability to help customers—in10 seconds or less. Keep in mind that a website is a company’s main tool for generating leads, which means that it has to grab the attention of the audience, provide a sufficient amount of educational data, and generate sufficient trust so that the customer will each out.
Nurture New Leads
Though your website should build new leads, it is also important that most of your leads are early in the buyer’s journey. They may just realizing their issue and be in the initial phases of product-related research. However, never disqualify these types of leads, discount them, or ignore them. Instead, nurture them, which means invitations to events, ongoing e-mail marketing, and sharing new offers when they are created. Nurture campaigns are vital when you need to move leads down the buyer funnel. Plus, it provides more offers to individuals who have expressed interest in a service or product, and it prepares leads for future sales opportunities.
Guide the Decision-Making Process
Every consumer will move at their own pace through the buyer funnel; you can’t hurry this along. You simply cannot force someone to make a purchase, but you can provide them with insight while they are making their final decision. A recent report showed that information that assists buyers in advancing through their purchasing journey is three times more likely to boost the chances of a low-regret, high-value deal. So, as companies learn more about customers and their challenges, offering educational information puts companies at a huge advantage and places them as a trusted advisor. This guides the consumer through the funnel, ultimately with a favorable outcome for the company.
With buyer journeys becoming longer and more nuanced, it is important that marketers cater to leads at various stages of the buyer funnel. Full funnel marketing is going to be vital for lead conversion over the next few months, so make sure that your business is prepared. For more information, contact us at WebDetail.
